


All They Really Need

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Angst, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 19:55:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2745080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius surprises James and Lily with some wonderful news. This changes their world forever and provides them with the opportunity to live their lives the way they always wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

“James, have you seen the papers recently?”

James jumped, bumping his head painfully on the bottom of the kitchen table, under which he had been trying desperately to clean up a huge orange juice spill before Lily saw it. Sirius snickered at the mess then turned his attention back to his urgent news.

“What papers?” James asked, bewildered. He groped around on the ground for his fallen glasses. 

“The Daily Prophet, you great prat,” Sirius said, exasperated. Honestly, just because the man was in hiding didn’t mean he had to cut himself off completely from the rest of the world. Sirius stooped down and quietly moved James’ glasses closer to his roving hand. James soon found them and picked them up, letting out a little cry of triumph.

“Anyway,” Sirius continued, “You will not believe it! You know what, I should probably wait until Lily gets back. Where is she, anyway?”

This time it was James’ turn to be exasperated. “We’re in hiding, Padfoot! Where is she going to go?”

Sirius just shrugged in response. Then he seemed to remember his original purpose. “Anyway, Prongs,” he said in a business-like voice, “as I was saying, you should read the paper.” He handed over the newest edition before James could protest out of frustration. 

James quickly scanned the front-page article. His eyes grew wider and wider. He tore open the paper to find the rest of the article. Finally he set the paper down, his eyes gaping, his mouth open in surprise. “Voldemort’s dead?!” he exclaimed. Sirius only nodded smugly and crossed his arms. James ran down the hallway. “Lily!” he yelled. “Lily, guess what!”

After a moment of silence, Lily emerged from the bedroom, looking rather irritable. “Thanks, James,” she snapped. “You just woke Harry up. I was trying to get him down for his nap, but I guess that’s not happening now.” As if on cue, they heard a wail. Lily threw up her hands and went back into the bedroom. Sirius followed her, eager to see his little godson again. Harry stopped crying. Sirius came back into the living room, cradling the baby in his arms. James grinned at Lily. For a moment it seemed like she was about to scowl, but then she relented and smiled back at him.

James handed Lily the newspaper with a flourish. She raised her eyebrows and tentatively took it. After just glancing at the headline, she sat down on the couch with a hand over her heart. She, too, quickly read the article covering Dumbledore’s defeat over Lord Voldemort. Then she jumped up, let out a cry of joy, and threw her arms around James. Harry began to cry again at the loud noise. Sirius rocked and shushed him, all while grinning like a madman. James spun Lily around in a circle. She squealed and held his neck tightly. Harry’s wails died down, and he hiccupped. Lily laughed. James savoured the sound. He hadn’t heard it in so long. Harry waved his chubby arms at his mother, and she reached over to pluck him out of Sirius’ arms. Sirius pretended to play tug-of-war with the little boy, not letting go of him at first. It was only after Lily glared at him fiercely (so much, that Sirius thought she might harm him) that Sirius surrendered Harry.

Sirius slept over that night. He had started doing that a lot more since his godson was born. He ate breakfast with Harry perched on his lap, then he and James left for the Ministry. Lily thought James looked rather resplendent in his Auror’s robes. James tickled Harry, who giggled, as Sirius fluffed his hair in the hall mirror. Finally they were ready to go. They disappeared through the Floo, and Lily and Harry were alone.

James and Sirius did not return until several hours after dinner, and they came bearing grim expressions and bad news. “We caught a lot of Death Eaters today,” James said, his voice a monotone. “You will never believe who was with them, one of Voldemort’s followers. Lily waited for her husband to continue and tell her the answer. “Peter Pettigrew,” he said heavily. “Wormtail is a Death Eater.”

Lily gasped. “No!” she protested. “He can’t be! That’s all just a mistake, isn’t it?”

Sirius shook his head. “That’s what we thought at first,” he said despondently. “Little Peter. Surely he can’t be one of them, can he? But he is. He has the Dark Mark and everything.”

James buried his face in his hands. Lily rubbed his back, in shock. She adjusted her grip on Harry. Sirius soon relieved her of the baby. Lily glanced at him, worried about how he was taking the news about Peter. Sirius avoided her eyes, opting instead to cuddle and kiss Harry. 

Lily laid a hand on his arm. He reluctantly looked at her. “How are you holding up?” she asked quietly. “I mean, he is your friend….”

Sirius shook his head, suddenly looking harsh. “He is not my friend anymore,” he hissed, in that moment looking more like a Black than Lily had ever seen him.

James straightened up. He had been trying to retrieve Harry’s rattle from under a cabinet where Harry had thrown it earlier. “What are you two whispering about over there?” he said mock-suspiciously, though his attempt at humor fell flat.

Sirius made a brave attempt to rally their spirits. “He wasn’t Wormtail anymore,” he declared. “He wasn’t the Peter we knew.” 

James nodded resolutely, and Lily followed suit. Even little Harry nodded solemnly too, even though he had no idea as to what they were talking about. This broke the tense atmosphere, and everybody laughed.

Lily called Remus while Sirius and James played with Harry. He, too, had heard the good news and was more than willing to celebrate it with his friends. He joined Sirius and James in tickling Harry, who shrieked with laughter. Lily shook her head and went into the kitchen. She watched her family and friends from there and smiled. They may have lost one of their own to evil, but that evil was now greatly diminished and almost gone. Her family was safe. They would always remember Peter as he was before, and they would love each other and spend the rest of their lives together. That, Lily reflected, was all they really needed.


	2. Eleven Years Later

Harry shook with excitement, as he had been for the last week. His Hogwarts letter was due to come any day now. His mother pointedly pushed his breakfast plate closer to him, but he ignored it, bouncing up and down in his seat. He couldn’t wait for his letter!

Harry heard the door slam shut. He ignored it, as the Hogwarts owl wouldn’t come in through the door, but through the window. Out of the corner of his eye, as he focused his attention on the kitchen window, he saw Uncle Moony come in. His little sister Lydia leapt out of her seat and threw herself into his arms, crying, “Moony! Moony!” 

Harry waved vaguely in his direction. He heard a snort. Uncle Moony wrapped an arm around him and squeezed. Harry spared a smile for him. “Harry’s waiting for his letter,” Lydia announced. “And in two years my letter will come!”

Remus nodded in agreement. “And I’m sure that you will ignore Uncle Padfoot and me just as much as Harry is now.”

Harry looked back. “Padfoot’s here?” he demanded. 

Remus tried to look insulted, but the fact that he was laughing ruined it. Sirius jumped forward and clapped Harry on the shoulders. Harry nearly fell out of his seat.

Lily slapped Sirius’ arm. “Don’t do that,” she scolded. “Harry’s on edge enough this morning. Sirius ruffled Harry’s hair and kissed his cheek.

“Who’s on edge today?” James asked, coming down the stairs. He ran a hand through his son’s hair, making it stick up even more than usual. Harry huffed and tried to pat it back down again. James raised his eyebrows at his wife, silently inquiring. 

Lily said, “Harry’s very excited about his letter from Hogwarts, which should be coming soon.”

James teased, “Are you sure it’s going to come? I mean, you could be a Squib.”

Harry howled in protest and swatted at the hands that were once again messing up his hair. 

Breakfast went by and still no letter came flying through the window. Lydia took shameless advantage of Harry’s distraction, stealing bacon off his plate while Harry was staring into the distance. Harry didn’t even seem to notice. Lily finally put a stop to it. She dished more bacon onto her son’s plate. She didn’t want him to be hungry later.

Sirius and James tried to distract Harry with the prospect of playing Quidditch. Even that didn’t take the boy’s attention away from the window.

It wasn’t until almost dinner-time when Harry’s Hogwarts letter finally arrived. Lily had managed to lure some of Harry’s attention away with a card game; they sat at the kitchen table, and just as Harry was making the winning move, engrossed, an owl alighted onto the windowsill. Lily saw it out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t say anything about it, wondering how long it would take Harry to notice. 

The owl hopped a step or two further onto the counter, and Lily cringed. She hated when owls left droppings and feathers in her kitchen. 

Harry whirled around. He knocked his chair over as he dashed across the room. The owl dutifully held a leg out. With trembling hands, 

Harry detached the letter. It dropped onto the floor, and Harry quickly picked it up. Ripping open the envelope, Harry let out a shout of excitement. 

James rushed into the room, followed closely by Lydia, Remus, and Sirius. They all crowded around Harry as he opened the parchment with baited breath. He quickly scanned through it, let out a deep whoosh of breath, and whooped. “I’m going to Hogwarts!” he yelled.

Sirius clapped him on the shoulders, and Harry jumped. Sirius grabbed the letter out of his hands, and Harry cried out in outrage. Remus snatched it back and handed it to Harry, who thanked him absent-mindedly.

Soon all the contents of the envelope had been poured through and set out on the kitchen counter. James and Lily had their son write a response to Professor McGonagall. Harry complained a little bit about this, but he was too excited to really care.

Sirius offered to take Harry to Diagon Alley, but his parents refused. They wanted to take Harry shopping for his school supplies themselves that year. Sirius shrugged in acquiescence.

Lily, James, and Harry traveled by Floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the innkeeper nodded to them as they headed out to Diagon Alley. James raised a hand in acknowledgement. He and the other Aurors were sent to the pub sometimes to sort out “disagreements” between customers that more often than not ended up in one or the other using Dark magic. Today, however, James Potter was just here to do some shopping with his family.

The three of them visited Gringotts first. Harry unconsciously drew closer to his father’s side, just as he always did when they came to the goblin-run bank. Harry stayed glued to his parents, not venturing even a meter away from them, even in their vault. Lily and James exchanged a half-exasperated, half-amused look over Harry’s head. Even Lydia, who was only nine, had never been like this in the bank. Just a phase, they silently agreed. He’ll grow out of it. 

Next stop was Madam Malkin’s. Harry begged to go the Quidditch shop, and so did James, but Lily refused. “First years aren’t allowed their own broomsticks,” she pointed out sternly. “He should not be tempted to break rules.” James scoffed. Lily shot him a glare. 

Harry was about to ask what they were going on about, but the look on his mother’s face stopped him. Instead, they went into Flourish and Blotts to buy his textbooks.

James failed in his attempts to hold back snickers as Lily dragged Harry away from Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) by Vindictus Viridian.

Then came the part that Harry was most looking forward to: buying a wand. He entered the shop with trepidation, remembering Sirius’ tales about the old wand-maker. Lost in his thoughts, Harry jumped as Ollivander suddenly appeared, staring at him unblinkingly. 

Harry gulped and took a hasty step back, accidentally stepping on his father’s toes. He heard a gasp and a muffled curse behind him, and he quickly moved his foot, reluctantly moving his gaze upward to meet Ollivander’s. 

The old man smiled, an expression that did not meet his eyes and made him look creepy. Harry quickly glanced up at his parents, who smiled reassuringly at him. 

Harry tried out many wands, but eventually he settled on willow, ten and a quarter inches, like his mother’s. Harry’s father pretended to be disappointed that Harry’s wand wasn’t the same as his own, but Harry’s mother assured him that James was only teasing. Harry smiled tentatively as James laughed.


	3. The Sorting

On the first day of September, Harry woke up at five in the morning and could not get back to sleep, so he went downstairs to eat breakfast. Nobody else was awake yet. He had finished packing the night before, so there wasn’t much else that he needed to do, except wait for his parents to wake up. Harry wondered if he could convince them to leave early for King’s Cross.

About an hour and a half later, Harry heard noises inside his parents’ and his sister’s bedrooms that indicated that they were finally getting up. Harry quickly tore his gaze away from the fireplace and the Floo Powder, for he had just been contemplating fire-calling Sirius to see if he was awake yet. He supposed that wouldn’t go over very well, though. Sirius liked his sleep, and James and Lily knew better than to bother him when he was having a lie-in.

Harry could hear his mother and father in the kitchen now, laughing over something. Harry wondered what they were laughing about, but he didn’t really want to get up and see.

Finally, they were all ready to go. Sirius was there, having arrived just on time. He pulled Harry aside after talking briefly to James. Sirius pulled a small flat package out of his jacket pocket and held it out solemnly to Harry. 

“Use this if you need to talk to me,” he said quietly. Then he grinned and swept stray hair from his face. “Your mum wanted the one I’ve got for herself, but your dad and I convinced her that sometimes a boy just needs his godfather. Am I right?” 

Harry nodded eagerly and reached for the package. Sirius let him grasp it then he tugged it out of his hand and tucked it safely into Harry’s trunk. 

“There, now you won’t lose it when you’re changing into your robes. Don’t forget to unwrap it when you’re sitting in your new dorm room in Gryffindor Tower!” Harry agreed happily and hugged Sirius tightly. Sirius pretended to be falling at first then he embraced his young godson just as tightly.

Lily drove them all to the train station. They didn’t often use the car, but when they did, Lily always insisted on controlling it, as she was convinced that if she let her husband drive, he and his best friend would run wild and be very irresponsible with it. James and Sirius cheerfully conceded to this whenever she brought it up.

Remus wasn’t able to see Harry off to Hogwarts. His current employer had threatened to fire him if he missed too many more days of work, and Remus simply could not afford that. He had said his farewells and had given his well-wishes to Harry and his apologies for not being there the evening before at dinner. Harry and the Potter family understood. They weren’t upset at Remus by any means (except perhaps Lydia, who jumped at every chance to see her godfather).

Sirius helped Harry get his trunk up onto the train. He offered to help get it into a compartment, but Harry refused. “I can do it, Sirius!” he insisted. “I’m eleven. I’m going off to Hogwarts! I can handle my own trunk."

Sirius relented, trying not to laugh. However, fortunately, Harry did allow his godfather, parents, and sister to all hug him goodbye. He drew the line at kissing, though, after Sirius gave him a hugely exaggerated smooch on the cheek. That was when Harry waved his family off, jumping onto the train and grabbing his trunk. 

He disappeared, then they all saw him poke his head out of a nearby window and wave as the train began to slowly move forward.   
Lydia ran after the train, trailing a red-headed girl who was also waving and crying. 

Harry slowly sat down in his empty compartment after the train station moved out of sight. He likely wouldn’t admit it, but right then he really missed his parents, Sirius, Uncle Moony, and even Lydia.

The door slid open and two identical red-headed boys poked their heads in. One of them began, “We’re Fred…”

“…and George…”

“…Weasley. Are you an ickle firstie? Do you need an ickle friend?”

Another, younger, red-head pushed his way past the two twins, grumbling about “weirdo brothers” and “telling Mum.” He shoved his older brothers out and slammed the compartment door shut. 

Flopping down on the seat opposite from Harry, he held out his hand. “I’m Ron Weasley. I’m sorry about them. Fred and George can be real prats sometimes.”

Harry grinned. “I noticed,” he commented. “Are they always like that?”

Ron nodded, looking glum. “You probably should stay away from them. And from Peeves. Fred and George reckon they’ve learned a lot from him. What did you say your name was?”

Harry replied, “My dad and my godfather have told me a lot about Peeves, too. And my name is Harry Potter.”

Ron nodded. “Nice to meet you, Harry. What House do you think you’ll be in?”

“Gryffindor, probably. That’s where both my parents and my godfather and my uncle were,” Harry answered, trying to display more confidence than he felt. 

To be honest he didn’t feel very brave, or confident like his dad always was. In fact, he was starting to feel rather sick and quite reluctant to eat the lunch that his mother packed for him, or to buy snacks with the money that his father gave him.

Ron kept talking about his older brothers and how many there were. Harry tuned in just in time to ask what Ron’s two oldest brothers, who were out of Hogwarts, did for a living. 

Harry fought to pay attention as Ron answered the question in detail.

Harry was surprised at how quickly night and the arrival of the train at the castle came. They all disembarked, and the first-years all gathered around Hagrid, whom Harry had met a couple of times before. Hagrid gave him a little wave then turned back to the task of herding their group into boats. 

Harry climbed into the first one he saw that had enough room left. Sitting in it was only one lone blond boy, his hair and his haughty expression reminding Harry of his Muggle cousin Dudley, whom he had seen once and then never again. Harry did not miss him one bit.

Ron balked at climbing into the boat with Harry. Harry wondered if he was scared of the water or something, and he asked Ron that.

The blond boy snorted. “Yeah, Weasel, scared of the water?” he sneered.

Ron seethed. He glared at both the blond boy and at Harry, snapped, “Shut it, Malfoy,” and stalked off to find another boat. 

Harry glanced at the blond boy – Malfoy – who sneered at him. Harry made to follow Ron, but then the boats began to move on their own, floating across the lake to the castle. Harry sat back down with a thump.

Professor McGonagall, whom Harry vaguely recognized from some of his parents’ parties, greeted them at the door. She explained the House system, warned them to be on their best behavior (her eyes paused on Harry, who remembered his godfather’s and father’s stories about their school days and tried to look as innocent as possible), and led them into the Great Hall.

Harry was just as amazed as the other first-years, as he had never seen the Great Hall before. It was even better than his parents had described. 

Harry was extremely nervous about his Sorting. He had never been sure who to believe, Mum, Dad, Sirius, or Uncle Moony, when it came to this topic. 

They had fed him all sorts of tall tales that his mother firmly told him were not true, but now his imagination was running wild, supplying him with all the horrible and frightening images his dad and godfather had put into his head.

When the Sorting Hat began to sing, and Harry saw that it was not dangerous at all, he slumped in relief.

Ron sidled up to him and hissed in his ear, “Stay away from Malfoy. Do you not know who he is?”

Harry whispered back, “I recognized the name, I just didn’t know his face. I’ve never met him before. Seems kind of rude, doesn’t he?”

Ron snorted at that. “He’s a spoiled brat. His father’s even worse.” Before Ron could go on, McGonagall glared in their direction, and Ron   
swiftly shut his mouth.

Harry’s heart pounded so hard when his name was called, he thought it might just beat its way out of his chest. He slowly made his way to the front. 

When the hat was dropped on his head, covering his eyes, Harry began to gnaw on his lip. He thought of Gryffindor, and of his family sitting at home, waiting for news of his Sorting into their House. 

The hat counteracted, asking him, “Are you sure that you belong in Gryffindor?”

Harry jumped, gripping the edges of the stool. The hat chuckled inside Harry’s head. Harry got the impression that it was used to this reaction. 

It looked through Harry’s head, and after a moment of pondering, yelled to the hall, “Slytherin!”


	4. What Do We Do Now?

Harry slowly came to awareness. He kept his eyes shut, thinking about the frightening and frankly weird dream that he had had last night. He had dreamed that he had been Sorted into Slytherin!

He opened his eyes, blinking lazily. He looked around, expecting to see the familiar sights of his bedroom back in Godric’s Hollow, and promptly got the shock of his life.

Everything around him was green and silver!

It hadn’t been a dream!

Harry closed his eyes again. It had to have been a nightmare. But unfortunately details, ones that were too complicated to have been remembered from a dream, came flooding back into his mind.

Sitting down at the Slytherin table, apprehensive of what could happen to him, Harry kept his head down as he dished himself some food. He didn’t eat much, as he was feeling somewhat queasy. 

He hadn’t been feeling well the night before, either. He had sat down at the Slytherin table, painfully aware of everyone’s eyes on him. 

There had been somewhat half-hearted clapping that quickly stopped. 

He had looked over at Ron Weasley, the boy he had befriended on the train, and immediately had wished he hadn’t. Ron had looked resentful, glaring at Harry. Glancing around the Great Hall, Harry had seen disbelieving, open-mouthed stares, all directed at him. He could hear what some of them were muttering. How could a Potter, whose family had been in Gryffindor for centuries, be Sorted into Slytherin? Harry had seen similar expressions on the staff, as well.

Looking at the staff table during breakfast, Harry saw teachers glance at him, then quickly glance away as they saw him looking. Professor Snape walked slowly up and down the Slytherin table, handing out schedules. He thrust one in Harry’s direction, not looking at him, his face drawn up in an awful sneer. Harry hesitantly took the parchment. As soon as he did so, Snape yanked his hand away, looking disgusted by Harry’s very presence. Harry pressed his lips together, trying not to cry.

Last night in the dormitories, Harry had discovered he would be sleeping near Draco Malfoy. He might not have met the boy before, but he had certainly heard about his family. Draco’s father had been a Death Eater, and the whole family (except for Sirius, who was unfortunately related to them, along with his cousin Andromeda) was rotten to the core. Harry resolved to stay far away from his new roommate. He had cried himself to sleep that night.

The daily barrage of owls started right after Professor Snape finished handing out schedules. Harry watched eagerly for the family’s distinctive snowy owl, and he was not disappointed. Hedwig soared down, dropped a letter onto his lap, and started eating his bacon. 

Harry tore open the letter and scanned it. Mum, Dad, and Lydia were asking mainly what House he had been sorted into, how he liked Hogwarts, and whether he had played any pranks yet. Harry pondered. That first question could prove troublesome, very much so. He wondered if there was some way to avoid telling his parents for as long as he could possible manage putting it off. He supposed it wouldn’t last for long, though.

Harry wrote a reply to the letter right at the Slytherin breakfast table while Hedwig waited, casting disdaining looks at the other owls.   
His quill paused as he contemplated exactly how to handle the sticky issue of his sorting. He finally decided to just skip it altogether. He sent Hedwig off with his letter to his family without any mention whatsoever of Slytherin.

First off, Harry had Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House.

Harry supposed she had been fully expecting him to be in her House, or even in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, not Slytherin. It was positively disgraceful.

Anyway, Harry thought maybe that was the reason she was being so cold to him in her class. She even ignored Harry when he tentatively raised his hand to answer a question, as his father had told him a lot about Transfiguration before he had come to Hogwarts.

Harry thought, or perhaps hoped, that Professor Snape would allow Harry to at least speak up in class, unlike Professor McGonagall had, but he was sadly mistaken. Professor Snape seemed to loathe Harry on principle. 

When the man was not ignoring him, he was ridiculing him for not memorizing his books before class, for not being able to answer his ridiculously difficult questions, and even for his messy hair. It didn’t help that Harry had a lot of trouble understanding Snape’s subject, Potions. Snape was even meaner than McGonagall, Harry thought. He wanted to go home. Then he reminded himself that his parents would not be at all pleased that their only son was now in Slytherin, and he felt even more dejected.

The very next morning, Harry received a reply to his letter from Lydia and his parents. It was quite indignant, wanting to know what House he was in and why he hadn’t told them in the last letter. Lydia even threatened to write to Professor Dumbledore, asking him what House Harry was in. Harry knew she would never dare do such a stunt, but it got him worrying all the same.

Harry continued to put off replying to his family’s letter. After nearly a week he had finally managed to put it mostly out of his mind. He was still ridiculed by the first-year Gryffindors. Seamus Finnigan was the worst. He was a friend of Ron Weasley, who mostly tended to ignore Harry, throwing in the occasional sneer. He had ever since the night of the Sorting. Harry supposed it was better than some things he could have been doing, like following Seamus’ lead. However, it wasn’t likely that the two of them would ever be friends.

On the first weekend that Harry was at Hogwarts, bright and early on Saturday morning (before breakfast, even), Harry received another owl. It wasn’t a Howler, fortunately, but Harry opened it with trepidation anyway. 

It was from Sirius. He was wondering why Harry hadn’t unwrapped the package from him yet. Harry wondered how Sirius knew; Harry had forgotten all about it. However, after he retrieved it from where Sirius had tucked it into his trunk and removed the paper around it, he understood.

The package that Sirius had given him back at home contained a small hand-held mirror with an explanatory note attached to it. All Harry had to do was say his godfather’s name into the mirror, and Sirius would answer. Without thinking, Harry tried it. 

“Sirius Black!” he called eagerly. After a moment, Sirius’ face appeared in the mirror. His face broke into a wide grin, and Harry felt his own face imitate the action. 

Sirius craned his neck, trying to see around Harry. “So, how do you like your new dorm?” he asked.

Harry hesitated. He was beginning to think that perhaps he had made a mistake in contacting Sirius. Oh, it was all well and good now, but what about when Sirius and the rest of his family found out that he had been placed in Slytherin? They would be furious! Especially Sirius, whose blood family had all been the pinnacle of nastiness, according to Sirius, and they had all been in Slytherin.

Harry must have spaced out for a minute there, because Sirius snapped his fingers and called, “Harry! You still with be, buddy?”

Harry shook himself. He tried desperately to think of some sort of excuse to say good-bye to Sirius without making him suspicious or angry. However, as it was Saturday, he didn’t have any classes. 

He decided to give it his best shot. “Hey, Sirius, I’m going to go head up to breakfast now,” he said, interrupting his godfather’s monologue about the joys of being a Gryffindor.

Sirius protested, “But you haven’t even told me what House you’re in yet!”

Harry cut him by shoving the mirror back in his trunk.

Harry felt guilty later, as he sat nibbling at his toast. He had no clue how he would get around this seemingly insurmountable obstacle, but it was still no excuse for treating Sirius so pitifully.

He should not be so rude to his family. If he was polite, perhaps they would treat him the same way after discovering his House.  
Unfortunately, that discovery happened sooner than he had anticipated or hoped for. A letter from his parents came flying in by mail. It was terse and to the point.

“Harry,” it read, “We had our suspicions when you refused to answer our inquiries as to which House the Sorting Hat had placed you in, but when we brought it up with Professor McGonagall, she informed us that you had been placed in Slytherin. We are most disappointed…”

Harry put the letter down on the table and closed his eyes. He could not bear to read the rest.

Harry decided not to go to his first class that morning, especially as it was Transfiguration. He wasn’t sure he could look Professor McGonagall in the eye, knowing how she had betrayed him. 

Instead, Harry left the castle. The weather was still somewhat nice, as it was only September. He walked around the lake, flicking pebbles into the stony gray water that matched his mood.


	5. Chapter 5

Lily set down her quill and picked up the parchment to read over it once more before sending it off to her son. Old habits died hard, after all.

She read: “Harry, we had our suspicions when you refused to answer our inquiries as to which House the Sorting Hat had placed you in, but when we brought it up with Professor McGonagall, she informed us that you had been placed in Slytherin. We are most disappointed that you felt you couldn’t trust us. We were surprised at what House you ended up in, but we could never hate you for it, of course,   
sweetheart. Please write back as soon as you can and let us know you’re okay; and if anybody bothers you, tell us about it, and we’ll help you. Love, Mum.”

Lily sealed the letter and sent it out with their owl right away. Harry had been unusually unforthcoming since he started Hogwarts, and it worried her. James and Sirius had made so many cracks about Slytherin since Harry had been old enough to understand them. After Severus had risked his life to protect them, Lily knew that James and Sirius no longer possessed the animosity toward Slytherins they’d had in school, but Lily now realized that Harry might have taken those cracks seriously. It was still widely believed, especially after Voldemort’s reign of terror, that all Slytherins were evil, but Severus Snape had proved that wrong. Also widely believed was that Gryffindors, like Albus Dumbledore and Aurors like James and Sirius, were the good guys, but that wasn’t true either. Peter Pettigrew had been a Gryffindor, and he had still become a Death Eater. Lily wiped a tear from her eye. She still hadn’t gotten over her friend’s betrayal.

Lily didn’t expect Harry to reply that day, considering how busy he must be (and how slow in coming his last letter had been). However, it was still disappointing when she didn’t hear anything from him. Lily went to bed that night with the nagging feeling that something was dreadfully wrong.

The next morning, Lily’s worries were proved right. A letter came, but it wasn’t from Harry. It was from Professor Dumbledore. James chuckled when he saw the sender’s name. “Slytherin or not, I knew he’d get in trouble sooner or later,” he said. “I wonder what he’s done so quickly!”

Lily glared at her husband and he snapped his mouth shut.

Lily read the letter first. Without even letting James finish it, she started getting ready to go to Hogwarts. 

James wasn’t laughing or smiling anymore. His little boy had gone missing. If someone had kidnapped him, they wouldn’t be getting out of this alive.

Lily had already called Sirius and Remus. They barely discussed the plan before leaving. They didn’t need to. Remus stayed with his still sleeping goddaughter. Lily, James, and Sirius walked down the road and Apparated to Hogwarts.

Dumbledore and Snape were waiting by the gates. They looked as somber as Lily felt.

Dumbledore waited until they reached his office to start talking. “We believe Harry went out for a walk on the grounds. We have people searching now. We’ll find him.”

James looked grim. He knew exactly what lurked in the grounds. He was friends with one of the creatures that had roamed around in there while in school. If Harry had gone into the Forbidden Forest . . . James didn’t even want to think about it.

Lily cried silently beside him. She knew just as well as James and Sirius what could happen to their son in there, alone and vulnerable. James put an arm around her and hugged her close.

Dumbledore instructed them to just wait in his office. They were too close to the case. Sirius looked like he was chafing at that, but James laid a hand on his shoulder and soon he calmed down.

Lily finally ran out of tears and slumped against James. She took deep breath, trying not to start again. The house elves sent up sandwiches, but none of them could eat.

Finally Dumbledore returned. He still looked solemn, but there was a hint of a twinkle in his eye. “If you would come down to the hospital wing,” he told them, “there’s someone who will want to see you shortly.” He took out a box of Floo powder, but Sirius was already gone, running out the door and down the stairs. James and Lily would meet him there, then.

Lily looked all around the infirmary, but she couldn’t see Harry anywhere. Dumbledore was occupied with his pocket watch. Lily wanted to slap the thing of his hands and demand to know where her little boy was, but she didn’t dare.

Just as Lily was losing all patience with the headmaster, Hagrid barged into the room. It took a moment for her to realize that he had a bundle in his arms. Hagrid set the bundle down on the nearest bed and Lily gasped. It was Harry. He was dirty and shivering, but he was alive and unharmed, and that was the most important thing of all.

Harry did not wake up until early morning. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Padfoot looking back at him. The four of them were alone in the infirmary. When Sirius saw that his godson was awake, he barked and turned back into a human right away. 

Strangely, Harry refused to meet his godfather’s eyes, even when they were so close to his own.

Sirius drew the boy back into a big hug, but Harry flinched away. Lily silently shook her head at her friend. She stepped up to the bed.

Harry looked up at her. His large green eyes were wet. Slowly, making sure that he could see every movement, Lily hugged him. He tensed for a moment, then relaxed. “It’s all right,” Lily whispered. “Slytherin is a great place to be.”

Harry looked up and saw his father and godfather nodding fervently in agreement. It was like a shift going through his mind. For all his life, Harry had thought that Slytherins were all evil, even the youngest students to be Sorted there. This belief had persisted even after he had been Sorted there himself. But now his parents and godfather, the most important people in Harry’s life, were saying that wasn’t true. Right then, Harry began to believe that they were right. He wasn’t evil. Harry grinned and hugged his mother back.


End file.
